- The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, 3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Matthew 22:2-3 – The imagined feast should have been one no one in that day would have wanted to pass up. A royal wedding feast where the best of the best was being offered for the meal. All the food and drink on could ask for and it was all freely available to the king’s guest. Yet the strangest thing happened when the king made the announcement that the feast was ready to begin. No one came. Many were invited, but they either made excuses not to come or turned violent on the messengers from the king. The imagery here is meant to shock the listener, for why would anyone reject such a wonderful offer from the king! Such was the case for the Jewish people in Jesus’ day, they had been invited to the royal feast of the King, but they rejected the Son and His invitation. Since then, like in the story, a second invitation has now been sent out, calling everyone from the streets to come to the table for the king’s feast. The question you then must ask is how have you responded to the invitation? Did you reject it? Did you accept it? Did you actually come to the table? If you’re at the table, have you chosen to enjoy yet the feast offered to you? Understand the message being given without all the imagery. Jesus is calling you to a life with Him, have you rejected or accepted that invitation? If you have accepted it, are you living as if you are with Jesus or still living as you did before you accepted Jesus’ invitation? A table has been made with the feast of the Lord on it, and it’s available to you to enjoy. Come to the table, accept what Jesus is offering you, and then live as one who belongs in the house of the Lord. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3344
- But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Matthew 22:11-12 – It was customary at the time to wear a special garment to a feast like this. With the nature of how the guests came (just randomly off the roads, unprepared to come to a feast like this), the king would have offered the guests these special garments to wear. This man was found though not to be wearing one which meant while he wanted the feast he didn’t want the gift that the king was offering to him. Without the forgiveness of Jesus on us we can’t enjoy the feast of an eternal life with God. It’s accepting what God offers or life like those who rejected the feast to begin with. So have you accepted this gift yet from God? Are you wearing His forgiveness well? Do others see it on you and ask about it? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 876
- Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” Matthew 22:41-42 – Jesus flipped the talk around and asked them a question. Up till now in our passage it’s primarily been the religious leaders asking Jesus question after question. They asked about taxes, marriage, and laws. Notice though when Jesus finally asked a question what it was about…the Christ. I wonder if our talk could often match that of the religious leaders in our passage. We talk about so many things like work, sports, our kids graduation parties, politics, stocks, or even our pets. Yet how often is the Christ talked about by you? Yes, or course, it’s totally fine to talk about work, your kids, and your pets. What we see though in our passage is Jesus, when He talks, He speaks of Himself. Seek out conversations with others, listen well, and always have the name of Jesus within your speech. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1972
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